


Now I Can Tell You (I Like You)

by starjay



Series: When you love someone [2]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 10:59:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17222756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starjay/pseuds/starjay
Summary: After this momentI'm not sure if we can go back to being naturalBut I have to tell youI like you





	Now I Can Tell You (I Like You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blueyouthheaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueyouthheaven/gifts).



> Happy birthday blue! I hope you like this >~<
> 
> Thanks to Kiki for helping me edit this mess as always!
> 
> Title and description taken from 'I Like You' by Day6 because I really love that song and it's the biggest inspiration behind this fic
> 
> This is the sequel to the youngwoon high school au, and while I'm not sure how well it will match up to the original fic, I've had the idea for a long time now and it's the perfect opportunity for me to finish it up so here you are everyone!!

A loud clang can be heard as a string of beads fly across the room to hit the crash cymbals in the drum kit. Wonpil shakes his head exasperatedly as Dowoon glances at the instrument, muttering something about not damaging school property.

“She just rejected me to my face! And laughed about it! Who knew she was actually so mean?” Sungjin whines, draping his body over his guitar with a sigh for the third time during their break.

“All of us,” Jae deadpans with a roll of his eyes. “Literally every last one of us told you she’s a bitch.”

Wonpil throws a pencil at him before turning to his best friend. “What he means, Sungjin, is that we had suspicions about her personality. But you couldn’t have known, she was so nice to you.”

“There, there.” Younghyun reaches over to pat Sungjin’s arm condescendingly. “Don’t be sad. Not every relationship can work out as well as ours did.”

He exchanges loving gazes with Dowoon, causing Jae to pretend to throw up. “And thanks to who? I’m starting to regret intervening. I’m sure you two would’ve worked it out eventually.”

Wonpil sits up at those words, suddenly reminded of something. “Speaking of which, how did it go over with your father? I’m surprised you’re still alive and whole,” he asks Dowoon. Over the past few months, with Dowoon joining their band and dating Younghyun, he had gotten to know the drummer a lot better, and that includes certain secrets that only the five of them know.

Dowoon shrugs, picking up his drum sticks from where he had left them on the snare to fiddle with. “So am I. We had a big fight after he found out about Brian and I, and he called me some pretty nasty things, but he hasn’t spoken to me since. At all. I think I guilt-tripped him enough that he won’t kick me out for the time being, but who knows.”

Being the closest to him, Wonpil shifts his seat so he can put an arm around Dowoon, but the drummer doesn’t look like he needs any physical assurance. If anything, he looks laid back about the whole situation, like nothing in the world can bother him. Wonpil sometimes envied him for that exact reason, the ability to not seem to feel any emotions at all, for these days especially it is always like he felt too much.

Jae, on the other hand, is sharing none of his concern. He is instead glaring at his best friend with a look of utter betrayal. “So Dowoon can call you Brian, but I can’t? Oh, I see how it is. I thought it was bros before hoes. What happened to our years of friendship before he came along? Do they mean nothing to you, Brian?”

Younghyun turns to smile at Jae sweetly. “I don’t know a Brian, do you?” he says through gritted teeth, making Jae look away and start muttering dramatically.

“We have lost another brother to love today. Rest in peace, Kang Younghyun - ”

Younghyun carefully puts his bass away before smacking Jae. “Stop acting like I’m dead, Park Jaehyung.”

Jae shakes his head sadly and continues his lamentation. “Sometimes I can still hear his voice.”

Something pokes his arm, so instead of adding to the chaos with a snarky remark of his own, Wonpil turns to see Dowoon mouthing _help me_. He grins at him. “If I knew how, trust me, I would.”

Their bickering is interrupted when Sungjin starts strumming his guitar sadly again, and Wonpil vaguely recognizes the melody as the one Sungjin wrote for Kyeon Inhye all those months ago when he first started crushing on her. His friend deserves better, honestly.

“You’re still hung up about her?” Jae demands as if he is genuinely shocked, though they all knew it is more for theatrics. “C’mon man, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

Sungjin’s face scrunches into an adorable frown. “Why would I want fish when I’m sad about Inhye?”

“It’s an English saying that means there are other girls besides her,” Younghyun explains patiently. “She wasn’t your first crush and she won’t be the last, so don’t dwell on it too much, yeah?”

“You’re right,” Sungjin nods resolutely before brightening up. “And I’ll always have you guys no matter what. I’ll always have my best friend Wonpil too, right?”

His words hit Wonpil like a bucket of cold water. On the side, Jae is massaging his temples like he suddenly has a headache, and Younghyun is wincing. Even Dowoon is looking between the two of them, uncomfortable.

Somehow, Wonpil manages a smile. “Of course. I’ll always be here for you.”

“Aww, thanks. I knew I could count on you,” Sungjin says., oblivious to the tension in the room that he just created He glances at the clock before asking the rest of them, “It’s getting late, why don’t we all go out to eat together?”

The other boys nod their agreement and begin packing up. As usual, Wonpil is the last person to leave the room, making sure that all the equipment are in their proper places. When he flicks off the lights, he hears Sungjin call for him.

“Hey, you coming?” The end of his question rises up as his dialect shows through. Wonpil’s heart stutters painfully in his chest.

“Yeah, hold on, I’m coming.”

\- - - - -

Sungjin has been staring at his ceiling for the past three hours.

It isn’t like him to have difficulty falling asleep, as he usually had no problem shutting down his mind for the night and, unless there was a lot of noise, he could fall asleep within minutes. Yet for some reason, his mind refuses to stop working tonight, instead replaying images from earlier in the evening when he was out with his friends.

More specifically, his mind would not stop replaying images of Wonpil as he joked with Dowoon, as he bickered with Jae, as he laughed at Younghyun’s cocky attitude, and most of all, as he smiled fondly whenever Sungjin spoke. It isn’t odd at all that he’d picked up on all these details about Wonpil - the two of them had been best friends since childhood, and he had come to notice certain quirks without trying - but what is new is that his heart would randomly beat faster whenever he thought about his best friend.

The more he contemplates about the entire situation, the more confused he is getting, so Sungjin decides to take the only logical course of action. He picks up his phone to text Wonpil.

 **sungjin:** hey, are you still up?

Almost immediately, three grey dots float up on his screen, but it is a while before he receives a reply.

 **wonpil:** Yeah, I can’t sleep haha

 **sungjin:** can i call you?

His phone begins to ring as soon as he sends the message.

“Hey, sorry I’m asking so late,” he says, rolling onto his side to talk better.

“Don’t worry about it. What’s up?” From the clarity of his voice, Sungjin knows his friend wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t sleep.

“Something’s bothering me, that’s all. Just out of curiosity, how did you figure out you were gay?”

Wonpil makes a strangled sound on the other end of the line like he’s choking. When he finally recovers from his coughing fit, he replies, “I don’t know. I’ve just never been attracted to girls, I guess. I mean, I would find them attractive, but that didn’t mean I wanted to date them. And then, in middle school, I had my first crush and it was on a boy. You know how that turned out.”

Sungjin does, indeed, know how Wonpil’s very first crush turned out. The boy was a year older than the two of them and an incredibly sweet upperclassman, but he was straight. Not knowing how to turn him down gently, he pretended to date this girl, and it broke Wonpil’s heart. He was sobbing on Sungjin’s sofa for almost two weeks.

“Is my sexuality what’s suddenly bothering you?” Wonpil’s voice draws him out of his memories, and he realizes how poorly he phrased his question.

“No, not at all! Of course not,” he hurries to clarify. “I’m just wondering how different liking a guy is, compared to liking a girl. Hypothetically, it would be the same thing, right? Just a different gender?”

Wonpil hums noncommittally. “I guess. I wouldn’t know, seen as I’ve never liked a girl before. What brought this on?” There is a pause in their conversation as Sungjin tries to come up with a response, but Wonpil answers his own question with a gasp. “Wait. Do you have a crush on a guy?”

Sungjin is silent. _Maybe? And I’m maybe talking to him right now?_ “Yeah, I think so, but I’m not sure. I’m so confused right now. That’s why I called you,” he admits.

His best friend is oddly quiet on the other end of the line. When he finally replies, his voice is more subdued, devoid of its usual energy, but Sungjin writes it off as fatigue. It is getting close to three am, after all. “I’m happy for you, that you can finally get over her. I hope whoever it is that is lucky enough to catch my friend’s attention is a nice person who actually deserves you.”

Sungjin smiles to himself. “He is, he’s really kind and caring.”

After a beat, Wonpil yawns loudly. “Well, it’s getting late now, so I better go to sleep. Goodnight, Sungjin-ah.”

“Goodnight. See you tomorrow!”

His phone makes a beeping noise as Wonpil hangs up on him.

~

Wonpil lets out a long-suffering sigh before resting his head in his arms, pushing the various books and papers that are laid out on the table aside. Jaebum rubs his back soothingly like the good friend he is, while Jinyoung simply stares at him from across the table, unimpressed.

“What do I do?” he asks Jaebum, because he seems to be the most mature out of all his friends. “He just so happens to be the thickest guy on earth so I could drop hints forever and he’ll never pick them up. Sungjin is so lucky I love him,” he huffs.

“I don’t understand why you can’t just talk to him about it,” says Jinyoung. Wonpil doesn’t recall asking him for advice, but somehow, him and Jaebum always came as a package deal nowadays, even though he was friends with them both before.

“He can’t, Jinyoung. They’re best friends,” Jaebum chides, but the fondness in his tone took away any real bite. Wonpil almost turns away in disgust. It seems like he’s surrounded by couples these days, like the universe is trying to rub salt in the wound.

“Oh.” Jinyoung leans backward into his chair like that bit of information isn’t the least relevational in what he is about to say next. “I mean, you could always try getting over him. There are other people in the world, you know.”

Wonpil glares at him. “I’ve been in love with him since second year of middle school.”

Jinyoung whistles lowly. “Never mind.”

“What brought this on suddenly, then?” Jaebum makes a vague gesture. “You’ve been hiding out with us in the library for the past two weeks just to avoid him, and I doubt it’s because of your crush.”

“I’m not avoiding him! I see him at practice! Alright, partially,” Wonpil relents, giving a half-hearted shrug. “He called me two weeks ago in the middle of the night with what sounded like a gay crisis. I think he has a crush on a boy right now.”

“Ah. So he switched teams after he realized pining after girls wasn’t working out for him, huh?” Jinyoung narrowly dodges the pencil he throws at him. Thanks to Jae, he has gotten plenty of practice and his aim has improved significantly.

“So now you might actually have a chance with him, but he likes someone else. Am I understanding this right?” Jaebum says. “Shouldn’t you take this opportunity to win him over? Hiding here forever won’t solve your problems, and it honestly seems counterproductive to me.”

“Did you just forget the part that he’s my best friend? I’ve known Sungjin since elementary school, I know what he’s like. And I know that all he sees me as is exactly that: a good friend, and nothing more. I’m distancing myself so that maybe, my feelings for him will die if I don’t see him too often,” Wonpil explains.

“And has it worked?” Jinyoung wonders.

“No.”

“Exactly.” Jinyoung sits up on his chair. “I think you should just go ask him out. YOLO, or whatever it is that Jackson says these days.”

Wonpil rolls his eyes petulantly, refusing to admit that his friend might have a point. “You sound like Jae.”

“I think Jinyoung is right,” Jaebum speaks up. “No matter how well you think you know him, I’ll bet he still does unexpected things. You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take, after all, so just go for it.”

Wonpil nods thoughtfully for a second before coming to a realization. “That doesn’t even make sense. Statistically speaking, if I don’t take any shots, my accuracy would be one hundred percent. Only when I do take a shot will that accuracy fluctuate, depending on how much I am scoring. Therefore, I can’t actually miss any shots if I don’t take any.”

“It’s a metaphor!” Jaebum protests as Jinyoung smiles widely as his boyfriend is put in place. “You know what I mean. Go for it, we’re both rooting for you.”

\- - - - -

Sungjin hums softly to their new song as he works out a few more chords on his guitar. There had been a lull in practice, so after an intense tournament of rock-paper-scissors, they sent Dowoon and Wonpil to go buy snacks. As soon as the boys left, Younghyun and Jae begin speaking lowly in English, but he gives up trying to follow their conversation after the first sentence.

Absentmindedly, Sungjin begins strumming a new melody. Since they are going to go back to practicing anyways, he doesn’t see any sense in going over the music during the break, so he decides to at least write a few bars that they could hopefully improvise on later.

Focusing on his task, he doesn’t realize anything is amiss until Jae clears his throat.

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but who hurt you? Kyeon Inhye was months ago, and you haven’t written a single sad song since your initial heartbreak,” he says.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Sungjin realizes that indeed, the melody coming from his guitar is a sad one. “Huh. I don’t know.”

Younghyun shoots Jae a look that passed too quick for Sungjin to understand. “I don’t think it’s related to her. Might be love trouble with a certain someone we know.”

Jae sits up so fast from his reclining position that Sungjin fears for his joints. “Oh my god, this is about Wonpil, isn’t it?” When Sungjin doesn’t reply, he grins widely. “It totally is. Oh my god, ask him out already, _please_.”

“I can’t do that,” Sungjin protests. “I don’t even know if he likes me back. He’s been avoiding me for the past few weeks now.”

“Did you do anything that might have given him a reason to avoid you?” Younghyun questions.

Sungjin shakes his head immediately, but then he reconsiders. “Maybe. I called him a while ago because I thought I might like him, but I never told him that I did, only that I might like guys too. He started avoiding me and hanging out with Jaebum and Jinyoung after that.”

Younghyun groans. “You’re a fool, seriously, and I mean that in both the best and the worst of ways. Why did you call him of all people when you’re having a gay crisis?”

“It was more of a bisexual crisis, actually. And he’s my best friend, of course I would think to call him first!” Sungjin says in self-defence. “Besides, I might not even be in love with him. I’ve been in love before, and it was always happy feelings. It never hurt like this. It never hurt to see them with other people instead of me before.”

Jae takes a hold of his shoulders and stares into his eyes seriously, like he is about to bestow divine wisdom. “That’s because those were crushes, Sungjin. This isn’t a crush, this is love!” he declares, flinging an arm to the side dramatically as he says the word ‘love’.

Sungjin pushes him away. He is about to retort indignantly when Younghyun shushes them both before loudly welcoming Wonpil and Dowoon, who have returned from their little errand run.

Practice passes quickly after that, and none of them pay attention to time until Dowoon excuses himself.

“I have to go,” he says apologetically. “My dad always gets mad if I go home late and I really don’t want to push my luck with him.”

“I should go too,” Wonpil speaks up right after him. “It’s getting late and we have that exam first thing tomorrow morning. I want to get some last-minute studying done.”

At the mention of the exam, Younghyun and Jae groan in unison, making everyone else laugh.

“You know, if you actually cared about school, you could do well too. I went over the material with you already anyway, you’ll be fine,” Dowoon teases Younghyun.

“Says you, model student,” Younghyun responds sarcastically, but the smug smile is wiped away immediately by a quick kiss from his boyfriend.

“Yeah yeah, call me tonight if you want to review some more. Love you. See you guys!” Dowoon waves at them all before disappearing out the music room’s door with a jingle of his anime charms on his backpack.

“Gross,” Jae comments after he leaves. “Disgusting, the two of you.”

“You’re just jealous because you’re still single,” Younghyun replies childishly.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Wonpil says. “Bye guys, see you tomorrow! Good luck with these two.” He directs the last part at Sungjin with a brilliant smile, and he could only respond with a nervous nod and a smile of his own, having apparently lost his ability to speak.

He keeps watching Wonpil until his figure retreats from view, the bright, sunshine smile flashing before his eyes still. Sungjin sighs. “I’m in love with him.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you!” Younghyun exclaims. “I’m glad you finally realize it for yourself. It was starting to get painful to watch.”

At this new revelation, Sungjin buries his head in his hands. “What am I supposed to do now? He’s my best friend, I don’t want to ruin things between us.”

He looks up when he feels a hand on his arm. Jae is grinning deviously, as he always does when he comes up with new, stupid plans. “Well my friend, I’m glad you asked. You see, first…”

\- - - - -

The bus is an old model which ensures he feel every bump on the road, but Wonpil leans his head against the window anyway, closing his eyes and letting his thoughts drift away to the sound of music playing in his ear buds.

In between reviewing the rules to solving quadratic inequalities, his thoughts circle back to Sungjin, as they have a tendency to do so these days. Wonpil’s mind is still stuck on their last interaction, Sungjin smiling back at him at the end of practice with a smile that reached his eyes. He has such pretty eyes…

Wonpil shakes himself out of that particular train of thought. His friends are right, he is really whipped for Sungjin, but sitting around moping isn’t solving the problem. And Wonpil knows, as much as he wants to deny the solution forever, that if this situation was happening to anyone else, he would immediately give them the advice to confess and see where life takes them.

Taking a deep breath to strengthen his resolve, Wonpil pulls out his phone, but before he can even unlock it, a soft chime indicates that someone is texting him. He opens the message with a smile.

 **sungjin:** hey, are you free this saturday?  
**sungjin:** we haven’t hung out much lately, i miss my best friend >_<

Although his heart still hurts at the words ‘best friend’, his newfound courage softens the blow. Besides, he has been neglecting Sungjin lately because of how scared he was.

 **wonpil:** I think I am. Where do you want to meet?

 **sungjin:** our park, 4pm

Wonpil smiles to himself. Although there are many parks in Seoul, the fact that Sungjin doesn’t specify speaks volumes to their years of friendship and understanding. There is really only one park that can be considered ‘theirs’ anyways: the one next to their old elementary school where they would hang out on a regular basis until their band was formed, and their meetings moved to the high school’s music room.

 **wonpil:** Sounds good!

His phone chimes again when he puts it away, expecting that to be the end of the conversation. Wonpil sees that Sungjin has sent him a silly sticker, and that he is now reminiscing about their times at the park together. He texts back with a grin, adding to the silly memories they made together.

Wonpil misses his stop, but as he texts and jokes with Sungjin with the same level of familiarity they had before the phone call, he wonders why he was even scared in the first place.

~

He takes a deep breath and looks at his reflection in the mirror, straightening his collar for the thousandth time. Wonpil doesn’t know why he’s so nervous, considering that he’s hung out with Sungjin countless times before, but the flowers sitting on his coffee table suggest otherwise.

“Oh honey, you’re going out?” his mother asks as she exits the kitchen. Catching sight of the bouquet, she smiles knowingly. “Which boy is lucky enough to catch my handsome son’s attention this time?”

Wonpil responds with a cheeky, “I guess you’ll find out if it goes well.” He is so relieved to have such an understanding family when it comes to his sexuality.

“Alright then, if you say so. Have fun, and don’t stay out too late,” she warns, ruffling his hair. He protests good-naturedly and dodges away.

“I know. Bye mom!” Blowing her a kiss, Wonpil hurries out of his house, not wanting to be late to the… not a date, exactly, as he keeps reminding himself, but it doesn’t stop his heart from speeding up that tiny amount.

When Wonpil arrives at the park, he doesn’t need to look for long before he spots Sungjin atop a hill, sitting at the base of their favourite tree when they were children. Although he is too far to see properly, he would recognize that mop of black hair anywhere.

Slowing his steps to a walk, he takes great care to hide the flowers behind his back. He isn’t too big a fan of romance, but he knows that Sungjin is and, well, sacrifices must be made for love.

As he makes his way up the hill, he can see that his friend has spread out a checkered blanket and laid out a variety of containers, likely for a picnic. Sungjin himself is sitting cross-legged with his guitar in hand, leaning back against the trunk of the tree comfortably. When he catches sight of Wonpil, he smiles brightly, and as soon as he is within earshot, begins strumming a tune on his guitar.

Wonpil listens to the song, which sounds like an original composition, with great interest, but he isn’t willing to let himself be completely carried away by the serenation. As much as it pains him to admit, it wouldn’t be the first time Sungjin has taken him out on a ‘practice date’ so he can try out various new ways to make his crushes fall for him.

Although Sungjin would usually give a warning in advance, Wonpil still cannot be certain that the setup is for him, so he patiently waits until the song is over so his friend can explain.

He claps when the last chords fade away. Sungjin is looking at him expectantly, so he clears his throat and says, “That’s a really beautiful song. What brought it on, suddenly?”

At his question, Sungjin avoids his gaze shyly. When he finally answers, his dialect is more prominent, his voice rougher. “Well, I was talking to our friends, and I realized that they were right. I should just go for it. So I wrote this song for you. It’s called ‘I Like You’. I had other names for it, but I figured that that one fit the most. I like you, Kim Wonpil. Will you be my boyfriend?”

Wonpil’s brain short-circuits in shock and he drops the flowers that he was clutching tightly in his hands. “I-you-what?” Flustered, he hurries to pick them up again, though he is unable to formulate proper sentences. “I-I mean, yes. I was going to ask you the same thing, actually. Wait, _I’m_ your mysterious gay awakening crush?”

Still unwilling to meet his eyes, Sungjin mumbles with a blush, “Yeah.”

Wonpil storms over to his side and leans down to pull him into a kiss. “You idiot,” he whispers inches from Sungjin’s lips. “I thought you liked someone else. I thought you would hate me if I ever confessed!”

Sungjin holds him at arm’s length and finally stares into his eyes, which made Wonpil’s anger dissipate immediately. He is a weak man to those eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn't know that you felt the same way until Jae and Younghyun talked to me. Forgive me?”

He sits down next to Sungjin, leaning his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “We’re both idiots. I really hate admitting that Jae is right.”

Sungjin chuckles and turns to drop a kiss on Wonpil’s forehead like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “I’m not against giving him bragging rights if it means we got together.”

Wonpil grins in response. “Yeah, you’re right.”

~

On Monday, Wonpil practically waltzes into the practice room with his hand intertwined with Sungjin, grinning widely.

“Jae, I owe you a coffee,” he says.

“Oh, finally,” Younghyun and Dowoon speak simultaneously in a disinterested tone, not even looking up from the notebook Dowoon is doodling in.

Jae gets up from where he was trying to plug in his guitar. “Was I right or was I right? Another couple brought together by yours truly. Maybe you guys should listen to me more often.”

Wonpil only lets go of Sungjin’s hand to set up his keyboard, not even bothering to dignify that statement with a reply. There is a moment of silence in the practice room before a look of horror settles onto Jae’s face.

“Wait, does that make me the only single person here?!” he wails, causing everyone to laugh.

Wonpil catches Sungjin’s eye as Jae begins his theatrics again, and his boyfriend responds with a grin and a small shrug, like, _we knew this would happen. We can deal with it. It’s worth it._

He smiles back, feeling lighter and happier than he has in weeks. _Yeah, it’s definitely worth it._

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, huge happy birthday to blue because you deserve the whole world bb♥
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading, I hope you all liked it as well, and any feedback is greatly appreciated~ Have a fantastic day/night everyone, and happy new year!
> 
> ~ starjay


End file.
